Feral Obsession

Chapter Eight

Ruby hummed along with the hold music as she waited, speaker phone on, nail polish being swiped onto her left hand. She had picked a nice baby pink color, and as she held up her hand to inspect her handywork, the phone chirped. "Ms. Crowell?"

"Yes?" Ruby decided to apply another coat, just to make sure the color wasn't streaky.

"We are all set to host your business meeting. I just spoke with the owner, and we should be good to host that number of people. As requested, we do have a menu planned for the catered lunch. Shall I go over that with you now?"

"Yes, please." Ruby capped the nail polish, reaching for the clear top coat to unscrew.

Ruby listened as the woman on the phone went over the menu for the meeting. To Ruby, this wasn't her bread and butter, but it was still event planning nonetheless. Once they went over the approved menu, the selected time frame for the meeting, and the parking situation, Ruby said her goodbye into the phone. She immediately clicked on her email, waiting for the confirmation.

As expected, it popped up in her inbox.

Ruby let her nail polish dry as she read through her spreadsheet, just to make sure everything would be all set for next month. She had been shocked when Brody had supplied the number of attendees. In her mind, she had assumed a business meeting would be ten people, max. What did she know about meeting clients?

But, no. It was closer to a hundred attendees. Her eyes had bugged right out of her head, and then Ruby considered what sort of work Atlas actually did. He couldn't just be a landlord, right? Not if he was hosting these types of meetings.

She wasn't supposed to care. She wouldn't care. Once her nail polish was dry on both hands, Ruby called Brody to tell him the good news. She held the phone to her ear as she skimmed the confirmation email.

The moment Brody picked up, Ruby didn't let him get a word in. "Hey, feel free to shower me with thank you kisses, because I got us the best venue."

"Excuse me?"

Ruby's heart got stuck in her throat immediately at the man on the other end of the line. The voice did not belong to Brody. Instead, it was Atlas that growled on the other end of the line. Hearing his voice made a shiver race down her spine, and she straightened in her chair on impulse.

"Who is this?" She asked, as if she didn't know.

"Ruby," Atlas warned. It had her heart slamming against her ribcage. Hearing him say her name like that made Ruby imagine him in her bedroom, saying it in the same tone of voice, doing something a little more rated R.

She tried to swallow, but it got stuck. "Atlas," she squeaked out. "Is this not Brody's number?"

"It is. I'm wondering why you're calling him, telling him to give you a kiss. Why are you calling my men?"

The anger in his voice was terrifying. And, Ruby hated to admit it, but also delicious. It made her toes curl. "Is Brody there? This is private."

"Unless you want a murder on your hands, you will tell me why you have my man's number." The timber of his voice lowered into dangerous territory.

Her mouth went dry. She knew she couldn't lie to him, and it was obvious Brody had not yet mentioned the work event that she was planning. She tried to swallow again before she croaked out, "Brody asked me to plan your business meeting next month. I was calling to tell him I booked the venue."

There was a long, tense silence. "Why the fuck would Brody ask you to plan anything?"

"I work at an event management company."